Early stages of interchange reactions in polymer blends

Simple models are studied for better understanding of the early stages of interchange reactions in polymer blends. For a homogeneous blend of homopolymers A and B, parameters of copolymer AB formed at the reaction beginning are explicitly calculated. it is shown that the analysis of the copolymer composition can help to establish the prevailing interchange mechanism. For a bilayer blend of immiscible homopolymers A and 13, the reactive compatibilization through interchange is studied by continual Monte Carlo modeling. The analysis of the local distribution in block length shows that the interdiffusion of blend components may start only after the formation of rather short copolymer blocks in the course of interchange.